At the Vienna General Hospital, people with palliative care needs can be cared for on any ward.
If possible, every request for a consultation received before 1 pm will be dealt with on the same day of the week (Monday to Friday) by a visit from physicians and nurses from the Clinical Division of Palliative Medicine. Palliative care consultations are not available at weekends or on public holidays.
We treat patients with advanced illnesses and symptoms, such as
- Pain
- Dyspnoea
- Fatigue
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Cachexia/Sarcopenia
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea and vomiting
We would like to point out that a palliative care counselling visit cannot replace the work of discharge management. If the consultation is mainly about post-discharge care, we kindly ask you to timely involve discharge management.
We can only provide information or recommendations about care options, but our primary role is to manage distressing symptoms and provide nursing and medical advice. The organisation of further care is the responsibility of the respective unit's discharge management.
Optimal palliative care can be provided more timely and effectively if patients are informed by the primary care team about the goals of treatment, their prognosis and the visit of the palliative care team.
It is not the role of the palliative care team to inform the patient of changes in treatment goals, as this should be done through a team that has already built a relationship with the patient. However, we are pleased to provide support in complex and challenging situations.
Assignment for a Palliative Care Counselling Visit
- The request for a counselling visit is made by an electronic order "Konsil Innere Med I-I14 Palliativ" via AKIM.
- It is also necessary to complete the form "Konsilanforderung-Palliativ" via AKIM.
- Please complete via AKIM Konsil Innere Med. I -> I14 Palliative -> Initial consultation or follow-up consultation.
- A form will then appear, which must be completed APPROPRIATELY.
- If the form is not completed appropriately, NO palliative medicine counselling visit will take place until the relevant information is available. The required preliminary information is essential to ensure the quality of the consultation.
- A palliative care counselling visit will only take place once the form is completed appropriately.
Subsequently, a consultation report is available in AKIM.
Improving primary palliative care is a major duty of the palliative care counselling service, as the Palliative Care Unit is a tertiary facility with 12 beds and has a low capacity for inpatient care.
We would like to draw your attention to our admission criteria: Admission/transfer procedure to the Palliative Care Unit.
Follow-up visits are often required as part of a consultation, which will require a new referral. If this is noted in the consultant's report, we would ask you to send these to us accordingly.
Thank you and we look forward to cooperating with you!
Your interprofessional Palliative Care Team